The bitterness of last goodbyes, <br />the moment the goodbyes begin, <br />should never come as a surprise, <br />like when you are surprised in sin, <br />although that also should not be <br />a time for bitterness. You knew <br />the moment you began to love <br />each other sin would give a cue <br />for you to part, like Noah’s dove, <br />and follow evermore the raven, <br />which hesitated first to leave, <br />but ultimately found a haven <br />where the sinners do not grieve. <br />Don’t feel that sin made you a quitter, <br />forcing you to say goodbye; <br />though the last goodbye is bitter, <br />you are not a damselfly <br />which only has one day to live; <br />you have far more on which adieu <br />is not the message you must give, <br />like birds that far from Noah flew. <br /> <br />Inspired by four lines of a song by Noel Coward, cited by Ben Brantley in the NYT on July 1,2008 in a review of a dramatization of “Brief Encounter” with Tristan Sturrock and Naomi Frederick, currently playing at the Kneehigh Theater in London: <br /> <br />For I feel the misery of the end <br />In the moment that it begins, <br />And the bitterness of the last goodbye <br />Is the bitterness that wins. <br /> <br />7/1/08<br /><br />gershon hepner<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/bitterness-of-last-goodbyes/
